A fire which broke out Saturday afternoon at 92 Manor Avenue in Cohoes caused extensive damage not only to the rear of the structure but also a vehicle parked adjacent to the home (shown in lower left corner). (Jeff Couch / The Record)

COHOES -- A fire quickly consumed a home in Cohoes Saturday afternoon as fire departments from Troy, Green Island, Watervliet and Cohoes fought for two hours to control a blaze of unknown origin.

Witnesses said the house fire at 92 Manor Avenue began in the rear of the property, according to a next door neighbor.

"Me and my buddy Patrick (Hebert) were out here working on a truck and all of a sudden we heard crackling and burning," said next door 21-year-old Tom Murray. "We thought the guy was next door having a fire, because he enjoys his yard usually."

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Murray walked closer to the fence separating the yards and noticed smoke billowing out of the house.

"Sure enough, we see the flames," Murray said. "I grabbed the fire extinguisher and ran over there, but it was too far gone."

Murray said he pushed in a window and shouted a warning to anyone who might be inside.

Murray then went around to the front door and told a stunned owner that his house was on fire.

"He looked at me like I was joking or something," said Murray

Within minutes the alarm was out and firefighters converged on the house.

"We didn't know if anybody was still in the house," said the 18-year-old Hebert. "Next thing you know we see some lady come shooting out of the window."

Hebert said firefighters ran a ladder up to a second-story window and rescued the woman.

Other witnesses describe hearing a series of small explosions before spotting a rising plume of smoke climbing into the bright afternoon sky.

"Me and my mom witnessed it," said 8-year-old Jacob Jones. "It went boom, boom, boom, like an explosion. And then the house was all on fire."

It was unclear if there were any injuries in the blaze, though a man a woman and their toddler son were speaking with fire marshalls at the scene while the house burned.

Firefighters were taking a defensive posture at the blaze, according to radio calls, and were just making sure the blaze didn't spread to any nearby buildings.